Railway-car truck



April 28, 1925. 1,535,404

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Patented Apr. 28,

UNITEDsTATEs PATENT. OFFICE.

FRITZ B. ERNST, OF CHICAGO, ILLUTOIS, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN STEEL FOUNDRIES,

i OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A; CORPORATION F NEW JERSEY.

RAILWAY-CAR TRUCK.

Tolallwhomitmyconcem: l'

.Be iA known that I, Fnrrz B. ERNST, -a citizenof the United States, residing at Chi'- cago, in the county of Cook and State of same time Illlnois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in-a Railway-Car Truck, ofwhich the following'is a specification. ,Y

This invention relates to a railway car truck. i v'1 As is Well known, in recent years the carrying capacity of cars has been Vgreatly increased.. As a result thereof the question of providingsprcapacity has become important. Coneilering the matterof s rings alone it may be said .that any uuml? trucks other 'factors must be given serious Consideration such, for example, as ashort Wheel base which of necessity means a rela; Vtively short side frame. Accordingly., with 4a side frame of limited length and also taking into consideration the limited clearance for the movement of the brake heads and beams, the question of increasing the spring capacity of the truck is somewhat involved, especially where it is desired to place l-all of the springs between the bolster columns.

Therefore, one object of this invention is to increase the spring capacity 'of railway car trucks without increasing the length of the side frame and wheelv base and at the providing all of the required clearances.`

Another object is to provide Aa side frame and a high capacit spring grouping between the bolster co umns thereof with the longitudinal distance betweenV said bolster columns reduced to a v Another object is to provide a high capacity truck adapted to meet the various requirements of service conditions.

These andother objects are-accomplished `by means of the arrangement disclosed on the accompanying sheet of drawings, in whichy Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation ofa railway car truck embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken in the plane of line 2--2 of Figure 1;

. and

Figure 3 is .an enlarged sectional view taken in the plane of line 3--3 of Figure 1.

The various novel features of the invener of' springs and any grouping of such springs' may be used. However.inq.,.tlf1e design of tion will be apparent'from the following description an drawings and Ywill be particularly pointed out in the appended claims. t

fReferring to the figures'of the drawings it willbe noted that this invention is illustrated in. connection with a railway car truck including a side frame 10 which in this particular instance, although not necessarily so, is a single piece structure, that is, the compression member 11, tension member 12 and -bolster columns 13 are integrally formed. The tension member 12` between the bolster columns 13 is rovided with six Vspring seats, two 14 of which arelocated on .the transverse center of the side frame and 'at a lower levelf than the Vother four spring seats, two 15 of which are located on one side of the spring seats 14 and the other two `16 .of Whichuare located on the ,other side of theA central spring seats 14. Preferably the'spring seats land 16 are on the same level YVand' integrally formed with the tension member 12, Two transversely'aligned springs'll' occupy the s rin seats 14,.and

similarly transversely a igne springs 18 oc-` V ,cupy the spring seats 15 and transversely,- alignedv springs 19 occupy the-spring seats: 16. It is seen, therefore, that six springsare seated on the tension member betweenv the bolster column 13, there being two longitudinal rows of springs of three each olfset '.with respect to thev longitudinal center of the' side frame, the` two intermediate springs 17 being on a lower level than the Vsprings 18 and 19, whereb the longitudinal distance between the bo ster columns -13 may be reduced to a minimum where six springs are used and whereby the down-v wardly converging portions of the tension low the intermediate ysprings 17 .y

The side frames, onl one of which is shown, may be connecte either by a spring `plank or by a tie rod. If a spring plank member 12 substantially meet at a point bev movement of the brake heads or brake beams or both. In another arrangement a spring plank 23 is provided'upon which the four outer springs 18 and 19 are seated, said spring .plank `having an opening through which the intermedlate springs 17 extend. Although the sprin plank 23'is relatively Vwide it is also locate on a higher plane than the spring plank 20 so that a sufficient clearance is provided for the free movement of the brake heads 22. -It will be understood that only one of the spring planks is used at a time.

The bolster 24 rests upon the springs and more particularly, transverse webs 25, forming the ceiling of spring pockets 26 in the bolster, rest upon the four outer springs 18 and 19, while the lower intermediate wall portion 27 of the bolster rests upon the intermediate springs 17. The bolster at its ends has vertical walls 28, 29, 30 and 31 which form the outer spring pockets. The bolster and its guides cooperate to guide the former in its vertical movements.

In view of the fact that the longitudinal distance or the beam space which the intermediate springs 17 occupy, is greatly ref duced, the depth thereof also may be reduced, thereby reducing the weight of the side frame at that portion. Also because of this particular spring arrangement, the converging side elements of the tension member 12 may be reduced in length thereby reducing the total weight of the side frame. This spring arrangement generally not only provides for increased spring capacity, but does so without increasing the length, weight and cost of .the side frame and without interfering with the clearances for the proper movements of the brake mechanism'. l

It is my intention to cover all modifications of the invention falling within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

'I claim:

1. In a railway car truck, the combination of a side frame havin bolster columns and six .spring seats there etween, two of said spring seats being below the other four spring seats, whereby the spring capacity of the truck may be increased without'increasing the length of the side frame.

2. In a railway car truck, the combination of a side frame having bolster columns an'd six spring seats therebetween, two intermediate spring seats being below two spring seats six spring seats on the tension membertherei between, two of said springs being centrally arranged with respect to the other Vfour spring seats and being at a lower level with respect thereto, whereby the converging portions of the tension member meet substantially .at a point below the intermediate springs, minimizing the longitudinal distance between the bolster columns.

4. In a railway car truck, the combination of a side frame including a tension member having spring seats at different levels, two intermediate springs being seated on the spring seats at a lower 'level and the other four springs being seated on spring seats at a higher level, and a spring plank associated with certainof said springs without interfering with movements of the brake mechanism.

5. In a railway car truck, the combination of a side frame having a. tension member with six spring seats, certain of said spring seats being' on different levels, two intermediate springs located on the lower seats and, four springs located on the other seats, and a bolster seated on said springs, said bolster having pockets the ceiling walls of which rest upon the outer springs.

v6. In a railway car truck, the combination of a side frame having bolster columns and more than four springseats therebetween and out of vertical alignment'with respect to each other, one of said spring seats being on a lower level than four others, whereby the spring capacity of the truck ma be increased without increasing the length of the side frame.

7. In a railway car truck, the combination of a side frame having more than four spring -seats and out of vertical alignment with respect to each other, one .of said spring seats being on a lower level than four others, whereby the spring capacity of the truck is increased and at the same time minimizing the length of the side frame.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 4th day of January, 1923. l l

FRITZ B. ERNST. 

